Law of Wills, 2016A

number of other conditions which might be associated with sanity. To be sufficient to invalidate
the will, the delusion must have no foundation in fact and must be the product of the testator’s
diseased or deranged mind.”
The court in Kirkpatrick v. United Bank of Benton, 269 Ark. 970, 601 S.E.2d 607, 609 (1980), noted that
the settled law is that “while an individual may possess the requisite testamentary capacity, he may, at
the same time, be laboring under one or more insane delusions which may have the effect of making
his purported will a nullity.” See also In re Dovci’s Estate, 174 Pa Super. 266, 101 A.2d 449, 451
(1953)(if testator is of sound mind regarding general dealings but is under insane delusion that
affects terms of his will, will is invalid); Matter of Estate of Kesler, 702 P.2d 86, 88 (Utah 1985) (insane
delusion that affects one’s understanding of the natural objects of one’s bounty and materially
affects disposition of one’s property may invalidate a will).
Accordingly, if the testator is eccentric or mean-spirited and dislikes family members for no good
reason, but otherwise meets the three-prong capacity test, leaving the family members out of the will
would not be due to lack of testamentary capacity. See Stitt’s. However, when mental illness that
produces insane delusions renders the testator unable to evaluate or understand his relationships
with the natural objects of his bounty and this inability affects the terms of his will, the testator lacks
the mental capacity to make a valid will. Thus, we examine the evidence produced in the probate
court to determine whether it is sufficient to support the conclusion that Killen suffered from a
delusionary condition that affected the provisions of her will. See Thorpe, 152 Ariz. at 343, 732 P.2d at
573 (in will contest, appellate court may properly examine evidence to determine whether it is legally
sufficient.)
Two of the psychiatrists who examined Killen, one eight days before she executed the will and the
other twenty-one months later, testified that at the time she executed her February 18, 1988 will she
was suffering from a delusional paranoid disorder. Dr. Patel testified that her delusional condition
was permanent and that she could not have had a lucid interval. Dr. Don testified that it would be
highly unusual for Killen to have a lucid day or moment and that delusions never go into remission,
even with treatment.
The records of the psychiatrist who examined Killen a few weeks after she made her will show that
he found her to have persecutory delusions and to be mentally incapacitated. Although no
psychiatrist examined Killen on the day she executed her will, the court may consider evidence of
her mental capacity before or after her execution of the will to show her state of mind at the time
she executed the will. See O’Connor’s Estate, 74 Ariz. at 257, 246 P.2d at 1070; Thorpe, 152 Ariz. at
344, 732 P.2d at 574. 0Thus, the evidence clearly supports the trial court’s finding that Killen was
suffering from a psychotic mental illness diagnosed as delusional paranoid disorder on the day she
executed her will.
Likewise, the evidence supports the conclusion that when she signed her will, Killen was operating
under insane delusions about Russell, R.C., and Carolyn, and her delusions controlled her perception
of those persons and her treatment of them in her will. Dr. Patel testified that Killen’s delusional
disorder affected her ability to perceive her family members and friends. According to Dr. Don,
Killen’s animosity toward Russell, R.C., and Carolyn was completely based on her delusional belief
system, and it was this delusion-based animosity that caused her to leave them only one dollar each
in her will. He testified that although Killen knew who the natural objects of her bounty were, due
to her illness she had a skewed perception of the roles of those people in her life. Thus, the expert
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